


Strength From Within (A Naruto Neglect Book)

by GalraChilliPepper



Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU Naruto, F/M, Godlike Naruto, Naruto neglect, NeglegtedNaruto, op naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 10:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16084010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalraChilliPepper/pseuds/GalraChilliPepper
Summary: Naruto has been neglected most of his life by his parents and village for his younger siblings for a reason he doesn’t fully understand, until he begins to train, that is.Naruto’s whole life is turned upside-down after he meets the Kyuubi at five years of age, and begins to understand why he was left behind for so long, or so he thinks. A goal is set into Naruto’s mind - to become the strongest shinobi the world has seen, and prove to his family that just because he houses a tailed beast doesn’t mean he is a monster.





	1. Naruto’s Early Life /  Awakening

October 10th, the day that the kyuubi attacked Konoha - the village hidden in the leaves, and the day that triplets were born. These children were called Katsuko, Motoshi and Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, daughter and sons of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.

Things weren't going great for the Forth Hokage, Minato. Kushina had just given birth to her children, the kyuubi had been released and he was fighting a man who claimed to be Madara Uchiha. He had finally forced 'Madara' to retreat when another man appeared before him.

This man was almost identical to the previous, but the chakra seemed different. 

"Who are you? Another 'Madara' is it? What do you want?"

He slowly moved forward, holding a kunai up, before evading a blow coming from behind as the man shunshined. That proved to be a distraction for something else as gas filled the air. Minato tried to hiraishin away but it only led him to more gas that had been planted next to his seals. 

He felt a slap on the back of his head before the other man also retreated, and hirashined to Kushina, finding an unexpected guest.

"Third Hokage, what are you doing here?" Minato asked in surprise.

"You and I both know we need to subdue the kyuubi, and the only way to do it is to seal it. It'll be hard for Kushina to handle it after childbirth, so we need to seal it inside one of your children. I know it is a big ask-"

Minato cut him off, "I'll go get one of the kids, then I'll initiate the sealing. Be there in a flash!"

With that, Minato was gone, leaving Sarutobi to shunshin to the kyuubi to assist the people. Minato soon arrived with a baby, wrapped in orange cloth and face adorned with six whisker marks, three on each cheek. It was their eldest, Naruto, and Minato brought him there because he had faith that he would be the strongest of the triplets.

He started the sealing ritual, but was stopped when the Third Hokage chopped his neck. 

"Forgive me Minato, look after the kids, especially Naruto." Minato lost consciousness, and Sarutobi finished the sealing.

"Have a good life, Naruto. I pray to Kami that you are protected."

With those last words, the Third Hokage died, smiling at the small child.

What he didn't know was that Kami was about to fulfil his last wish, and it would change Naruto's life forever.

————————

Naruto - now five - watched as his 'parents' trained his 'brother' Motoshi, and his 'sister' Katsuko. They were working on unlocking the chakra of the pair, so that they would be able to see if one had unlocked Kushina's chakra chains to control Naruto if he ever lost control of the kyuubi.

Tentatively, he walked over to them, and tapped his 'Mother's' arm.

"What is it kid, we're trying to train Motoshi and Katsuko." Kushina looked at him expectantly, as did Katsuko, Minato and Motoshi.

"I was wondering if you could train me too?" Naruto asked, looking away from their faces. He dared to glance at them only to find his mother's hair swirling around like nine tails in anger.

"No, I told you, we are training our children. We don't have time for you right now. Why are you even in our private training grounds, get out. Now."

"Yeah, you orphan, nobody wants you." This time it came from Motoshi, his taunting blue eyes matching the smug look on his face.

"Look at his clothes. Disgusting. And don't get me started on the rest of him. Has he been living in a garbage dump or something?" Katsuko decided to speak up, holding her fingers on her nose, signalling he stunk. She flicked her red hair and turned around, continuing the training.

"Shoo, brat. Get out of here, it's not public property. And for the training, wait until the academy. They will be sufficient, unless you mean to insult my subordinates." Minato glared at him, and pushed him to the gate. 

Naruto's eyes began to water, but he held back the tears. Instead he turned on his heel, bare feet crunching on the grass as he pushed open the gate and walked out of there. 

He couldn't understand why they ignored him, why the villagers hated him, why he was alone.

But what he did know was that he was going to be stronger. 

Strong enough to do something about the situation that he was in.

Because Naruto hated his life, and nobody had tried to make a change.

And the only way that change would come is if he brought it himself.

————————

Naruto sat in training ground 98, a long abandoned place, left for nature to roam freely. Animals and wildlife were scattered throughout the area, and lush green surrounded Naruto as he followed the exercise he had seen his siblings attempting.

It took Naruto about an hour to unlock his chakra, and once he did he felt a flurry of emotions. He was exhausted, for one, but after that exhaustion came more energy, almost like something was replenishing him. Other than that, Naruto was excited that he had done something meaningful in his life, but sad that nobody was there to congratulate him.

Deciding to meditate in the peaceful environment, and put his emotions aside for the moment, Naruto explores his chakra, swirling it throughout his small body, until it seemed like there was nothing left for him to discover. 

How wrong Naruto was, because in the time it took to contemplate that, there was the weird replenishing energy coming through. Latching on to it, he felt the anger and violence radiating from it, but a distinct sadness as well, underneath it all.

Naruto dove deeper into the energy, desperately trying to find the source, despite it seemingly becoming frustrated at his attempts.

Let me in, Naruto thought, thinking about the sadness in his own life. I want to discover what you are.

That was the last thing Naruto thought, before having his chakra enveloped by red, and his vision clouded by darkness.

———————

Naruto picked himself up of the ground, seemingly dry even though there was a layer of water on the ground. 

Have I been thrown into sewers.... no, this doesn't look like anywhere I have been in Konoha. That presence from before, what was it? Maybe I can track it down? No, it wouldn't be that careless, unless it wanted me to find it. May as well look for a way out of here.

Naruto settled on the latter, trudging through the water and vast corridors, mentally noting the directions that he took. 

Left, right, right, another right, left, left, right. 

It seemed like hours had passed, when Naruto felt it. That presence. It was the same ominous feeling as when he was playing with his chakra in training ground 98...... chakra.

Naruto's little brain switched on, focusing on calming himself and controlling his chakra. The same as before, he moved it around, searching for the feeling he had once had. 

One minute passed, then five. And then he found it.

Starting with a light jog, breaking into a sprint, Naruto followed his senses to a large, empty room, with nothing in it. There was disappointment evident in the boy's features as he took a few steps forward, and fell to his knees.

Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths before opening them again, but he couldn't see anything. The light was dim before, but the darkness was nothing compared to this. He couldn't see his fingers if he lifted them infront of his face, and it was scary.

Naruto curled up, pushing some of his chakra out in the process on accident. The room started to light up at that moment, the blue misty in the air, but providing some light.

Clever, unintentional but clever. He isn't as greedy as others, and the skills shown before.... hm, there may be hope for you yet, boy.

The room burst into light, flames of orange and red revealing a large fox behind a cage where the wall once was, eyes malicious and intently staring at Naruto.

"I am the Kyuubi no Yoko, the greatest of the nine tailed beasts, and brother to the king of the foxes. You have a chance to prove yourself worthy, boy, but do not take it lightly." 

The fox's voice rang out across the room, a little bit of killing intent following it, just enough to create tension and fear, but not to incapacitate.

"M-me? But I'm just a rejected 'idiot prankster' as the village says." Naruto fumbled over his words, hands tugging at the bottom of his shirt.

"You think I have chosen wrong? I will give you a chance, partly because you are the 'idiot prankster'. Think about it, if they underestimate you, then when the time is right you can prove them wrong." 

The fox became smaller, into about the size of a wolf, and slid through the bars, a trail of fire following and igniting Naruto's clothes.

Still too shocked to speak, Naruto stood there, as his vision was filled with smoke.

"After all, boy, foxes are mischievous."


	2. 2

Naruto jolted up off the grass, blinking a few times to get rid of the sleep in his eyes. The moon was up high in the sky, and although it should have been dark, Naruto could see perfectly fine, down to the tiniest detail of the leaves that were above him and shading most of the moonlight from view.

Trudging through the thick trees away from the clearing, Naruto watched in awe and wonder as life moved around like he had never before seen. Animals that would lay low during the day had emerged and wandered through the forest, and fireflies flew around him as if they were the constellations, bright and beautiful.

"Do you like my gift, boy? The all seeing eyes of the Kyuubi, prone to all illusions, able to pick out the most minuscule details in the users surroundings, and of course, the ability to see perfectly clear in the dark." The Kyuubi's voice rung in his head loud and clear, and made Naruto shiver, both because of the nicer tone that he didn't think was possible, and the suddenness of it all.

"What exactly did you do to me, Kyuubi? I'm willing to bet that isn't the only thing." Naruto murmured, eyes subconsciously scanning the area for a water source.

"Clever boy, but I guess I am to blame for that. I let some of my chakra into you while your levels were low, and it allowed me to make you better, you might say." Naruto could practically feel the fox wearing his sly grin, a strange sense of joy coming from the beast.

"For now, all I have done is enhanced your brain, allowing you to pick up new skills faster, have more knowledge about speaking (A/N basically it makes his talking more sophisticated and less like a 5 yr olds) and increasing your memory, and I have given you the first stage of your dojutsu, the Katongan, which has the skills I told you earlier. There will be more in the future, but for now it shall suffice. With the amount of potential you have, boy, it shall not be long before you reach your goal." With that, the Kyuubi's presence faded away, leaving the grounds silent, except for the wildlife around him.

Naruto pondered what the Kyuubi had said, following the animals that roamed around towards a river, where he cupped some water in his hands and lapped it up gratefully. It had been a long day, after all.

What was his goal? He didn't have one yet, but supposedly the Kyuubi knew what it was. He made a mental note to decide on it later, but for now he needed to het back home.

Slowly standing up, Naruto slipped into the shadows, running on instinct and newfound energy to get him home before the sun rose.

—————

Naruto silently entered his bedroom after sliding his hand through the crack that he always left open just in case, and pushing the window open. Not worrying too much about the state he was in, he pushed open the bedroom door and crept to the library where his father had been earlier in the evening. 

The room was filled with books and scrolls, and whilst not family jutsu which was kept in a vault and under numerous seals, it still had plenty of good information, d-rank jutsu's and c-rank jutsus of all elements.

Searching through the room, it wasn't long before Naruto found what he needed. Various scrolls on chakra control exercises, the academy style taijutsu, three of the academy jutsu's for the final exam, and scrolls on shuriken and kunai throwing were all stashed away under a loose floorboard beneath Naruto's bed at first light, ready for when he started training later in the day. But first, he had to pay a visit to a certain someone

—————

Naruto ran through the streets of Konoha, oblivious to the strange stares he was receiving from the villagers. These weren't stares of hate however, not intentionally directed to Naruto, at least. No, these stares were because it looked like somebody had been hurting an innocent child who they had never seen before.

In his rush to prepare for training later in the day, he forgot to wash up from the day before, and had not seen his reflection. His hair was a shade of burnt orange, the same as the fox, but it was unlikely any would make the connection unless they recognised him from what he used to look like.

His whisker marks had faded from existence, courtesy of the Kyuubi wanting to surprise unsuspecting victims (the villagers), leaving his cheeks bare, and his skin was a darker shade, which Naruto didn't pay much attention to in his excitement.

In addition to his battered and torn clothing, Naruto was quite the sight, and most of the villagers felt sorry for the boy. Naruto just assumed that they were glaring as usual and continued on to Shizune's house.

—————

Knocking loudly at the door, followed by a yell of "Shizune-chan, it's me Naruto!", said boy waited, tapping his foot on the concrete. As the door slid open, he was met with a gaping woman, and a sniffing pig.

"Naruto?" Shizune breathed, looking to the boy and TonTon for conformation. There was a nod on both ends, and she took this chance to look closely at the boy. The face shape was the same, but everything else was different. The skin, the hair, and even the eyes. 

They were a shade of chilling crimson, and were currently looking at Shizune very intently. She felt a shiver run up her spine as their eyes met, but kept it hidden as any well trained kunoichi should be able to do.

"Is there something wrong with me, Shizune-chan? The villagers were giving me odd looks this morning." Naruto mumbled, voice unchanged.

"You look different, that is all. Did you get a hair cut?" She replied, thinking about how to tell Naruto in her head. While she was no Nara, she knew that any plan was better than none, since Naruto seemed unaware to his new appearance. "Come in, Naruto. I'll have breakfast ready in about half an hour, but we can talk while I cook if you would like?" He shook his head, before saying something that surprised Shizune.

—————

Stepping inside, he took off his shoes before talking. "I am working on meditating to improve my understanding of my chakra. I unlocked it recently and it has benefited me enormously to do this." This was a lie, but it came from something he had heard his parents say once, so he presumed it was reliable.

The kunoichi infront of him gave him another odd glance, before wordlessly nodding and wandering to the kitchen. Now was his chance to talk to the fox, who he suspected had changed his appearance.

Sitting down in the living room, he began to meditate, searching for the entrance to where the fox could be found. 

"This place is called your mindscape, boy. You do not need to meditate every time, just imagine being here for a few seconds and you shall arrive." The fox loomed above him from within his cage, before grunting. "You want to know about your appearance, no? I simply made a few changes to you. No extra additions like canines, ears or tails, but I did change some of your DNA. Nothing that will cause hindrances to you, as I will not tolerate a weak host, but it will prepare you for your training in the future."

Naruto sighed before asking, "May I see what I look like, Kyuubi?" 

"You are the one with control over the mindscape, you create the mirror."

Although sceptical about what the fox said at first, he was genuinely curious to find out what he looked like, and pleasantly surprised when the mirror appeared and he found out. 

Even though he no longer looked much like his biological family, (could he even call them that after his DNA was changed?) the new look suited him, and made him camouflage better in Konoha's forest environments than he could before with his blonde hair.

"Of course you would appreciate it. You humans are always so caught up in appearances to make yourselves attractive, but I prefer practical. Although other hair colours may look 'cool' or reveal family traits, what good is a head of yellow or pink hair if it gets you killed on a mission. The orange I have chosen is the perfect shade."

Just as he was about to reply, a voice seemed to call for him outside the mindscape. "We will continue this conversation later, Kyuubi, or do you have a name? I don't know, but I promised Shizune I would have breakfast with her."

He felt himself leave the mindscape, but just as he did he heard a voice.

"Kurama."

Naruto smiled softly as he looked at Shizune and walked over to the table.

"Kurama, that is a nice name." Naruto mumbled, taking a bite of rice from his bowl.

"Hm?" The blackette asked across from him, getting more curious by the second about the sudden change of the child infront of her.

"Nothing!" Naruto said, a little too quickly. He focused on eating the food, trying to avoid the conversation that was bound to happen at one point or another.

Noticing this, Shizune went for a different approach, asking him about his training.

"So you have unlocked your chakra, you said? That is wonderful Naruto, and at such a young age! I'm sure your parents would be very proud." Shizune beamed at him, eyes closed, but when she opened them, she was met with a sullen face.

"They don't, uh, know that I unlocked it. They have been busy training my younger siblings and I did it on my own following the exercise they gave Motoshi and Katsuko." Naruto looked down, placing his chopsticks neatly on top of his bowl.

"Oh, Naruto. I didn't realise that was the case. Please forgive my rudeness. If you would like, I would love to help you with any training in my spare time. Unfortunately, I have been getting longer shifts at the hospital so that might not be as often as I would like, but you are more than welcome to come to me."

This cheered Naruto up a little, and he stood up and gave her a hug. 

"Thank you Shizune-chan, I really appreciate it. Now if you would excuse me, I found some exercises in the library that I planned to try out today." Naruto grinned at her, before running towards the door.

"Be careful Naruto, and good luck training." She shouted as he left, walking to the door to watch him run into the distance.

"I do hope you have success Naruto, kami knows you deserve it."


	3. 3

Naruto ran home rejuvenated after a filling breakfast and talk with both Shizune and Kurama. He was amazed that the fox told Naruto his name, but glad none the less.

By the time Naruto reached home, it was about 10am, and his parents would be training Motoshi and Katsuko by now. Knowing this, he went through the front door quietly, and tip-toed up into his room. Everything was as he had left it, and he gave out a sigh of relief that nobody had found him. He knew that eventually he would be found out by someone, but at least he wasn't in a place where his home would be robbed by outsiders.

He sneaked into the bathroom with some clothes from his room, and had a quick wash so that he wouldn't be as suspicious looking, before entering his room again.

Pulling out the scrolls from the library, Naruto looked towards the jutsu's eagerly, starting to read a lightning jutsu.

"Kid, that is not the way to be going about this." A voice rung out in Naruto's head, not overly loud, but clear. 

"Kurama?" Naruto spoke aloud, looking around him. This wasn't his mindscape, so how was he being talked to.

"It is called a mental link, brat. I opened one up during the changes I made, for convenience sake." After a quick nod from Naruto, he continued. "Start with the scroll on chakra control first. As a being with massive amounts of chakra, I understand the need for control, as you will learn too. You had massive reserves before, a benefit of being an Uzumaki, but it is essential to learn how to control your chakra."

"Okay Kurama, whatever you say." Naruto complained. He was hoping to get onto the cool, flashy jutsu straight away. This didn't seem to be the case, and that annoyed him slightly. Wasn't being a ninja about having the best jutsu to take down your enemy? That was what Motoshi and Katsuko were told, anyway.

"Kid, most people would wait to tell you these things, but if you are going to achieve your goal, you need to understand this. Pay good attention, I refuse to explain twice." Naruto was confused as to what could possibly be so serious about being a ninja, but agreed to listen anyway, not fully prepared for what he was about to be told.

Taking a deep breath, Kurama sighed. This kid was smarter than most, and as cruel as he was, breaking a child's innocence about the ninja world was always hard, even when they were teenagers.

"Look, you may think that having the flashy jutsu, or cool ninja powers is going to mean everything in life is a breeze. You get good pay, and become famous while you are having fun beating everyone in the ninja world left right and center

The truth, however long it may take you to accept, is that being a ninja is a dangerous job, and many people you love and care for get killed. You learn not to trust anybody but yourself, even your comrades could be working for the enemy."

Naruto was shaken up by this, and deep down, he knew this to be true. He had often caught glimpses of ninja returning from missions with blood staining their flak jacket, and the occasional beatings from villagers had started to teach him about who not to trust.

You have to lie, deceive and steal. Kill or maim innocent people for the sake of a village that uses you as its tool. You are told not to show emotion, to put the mission before all else. Everything is a weapon.

You have to kill people in an instant, and the moment you hesitate may very well be the moment you die." 

Naruto kneeled on the floor, shaking. Memories of war were leaked into his head, but they were gruesome pictures that Naruto hoped to never see again.

"The reality of being a ninja, kid," Kurama said gently, "Is that it is not a perfect picture. It changes your life forever, and once you enter, there is no going back."

"Kurama?" Naruto whispered, tears rolling down his face silently. "Why are you telling me this now? Why not let me live under false truths for a few more years like the other kids?"

"Because I cannot tolerate a weak host."

Naruto's heart sunk. Although he had spent only a brief time with Kurama, he thought that just maybe, if he was lucky, the fox might have a soft spot for him, and he could have another person in his small family.

From inside the seal, Kurama muttered a quiet "I'm sorry, kit." He was ashamed of what he had done, but he knew it would be for the best, right?

—————

Naruto sat on the floor for another 10 minutes. The mental link with Kurama was cut off, and he could not enter into his mindscape. Deciding that it would do him no good to sit around and do nothing, Naruto retrieved the chakra control scroll for various exercises, and ran out of the house to the training ground from the other day.

There were plenty of leaves there, and he soon began to try the leaf sticking exercise. He had little success, with the leaves always burning up as soon as he put chakra into them. Deciding that he had not very good control for something that little, he would start on something that would give him a larger area to spread out his chakra. 

"Tree climbing exercise, huh?" Naruto didn't get much progress at all, but the tree wasn't burning, so that was a first. Repeating the exercise until about mid afternoon, Naruto had gotten one and a half meters up the tree. He felt discouraged by it, but quickly lost that once he saw genin teams only getting to about 5 meters up, and according to their teammate, they had been doing it for two days already.

"Thanks, Kurama." Naruto whispered, because if he was really meant to have such bad control, then the fox must have done something about it. A small smile graced his lips as he continued on to the streets of Konoha, stomach growling along the way.

"Oy kid, what'cha doin' out 'ere all 'lone. Ya 'ungry?" A man selling fried fish called out from his stall across the street. Walking over cautiously, he looked up into the man's eyes.

"Don't scare him off, Hiro." A woman appeared from the fryer, looking at him kindly. "What's your name, kid? Are you lost?"

Deciding that since the villagers bared no visible hatred to him now, that he would give them a chance, he replied.

"My name is, um, my name is-"


	4. 4

Looking around frantically, Naruto settled eyes on a stall. He regretted not coming up with a backstory before, but came up with an idea on the spot after spotting a fruit stall.

"My name is, my name is Daidai, miss," he said quietly, looking up at her with his big red eyes. The shop owner was a little startled by his appearance, but brushed it off as many clans had unique traits and this boy might be from one she hadn't heard of yet.

"Okay, Daidai, my name is Keiko, and this man is Hiro," she told him kindly, smiling at the boy, who shuffled away ever so slightly. Noticing this, Keiko decided to probe, so she could figure out how to help Daidai. "Do you know where your parents are?" 

"Um, they, they left me. Smuggled me into the village with some money and they left, saying it was, it was meant to protect me. Said the villagers were nice and that Hokage-sama would help, but I haven't seen Hokage-sama at all," Daidai told her, looking dejected. "They left me in some alleyway, and I went and bought some clothes earlier today."

Keiko embraced the boy into a hug, and Hiro, the owner of the stall, offered him a stick of fish that he gladly ate.

———

Naruto had stayed inside the stall on a plastic chair, talking with the shop owners about little things like the weather. Keiko knew not to push too far, but Hiro had other ideas.

"So do ya come 'rom a clan kid? With an a'erance like 'at, I ain't be sur'rised if ya do." Hiro offered Daidai another fish stick, that was politely declined, and given to the next customer instead.

"I never knew my true last name. Mom and dad promised they would tell me in time to start training with clan stuff, but cause we moved around a lot they used Ichigo. I don't know why, they never told me." 

The man was about to respond to him, but Keiko got there first.

"Sorry Daidai, Hiro didn't mean to upset you. We are about to close for today, so how about we take you to the Hokage-sama and see what he can do for you, okay?" 

Hesitantly, Daidai nodded, before smiling up at Keiko.

I can't let her see that I don't want to go. Any kid would be thrilled to find a home after being abandoned, it would seem odd if I didn't

"Damn right it would, kid."

Kurama? Naruto thought, glad to hear his voice, but still hurt from earlier.

"Look, I am sorry about what I said earlier, Daidai" Kurama snickered a bit at the end. "Why did you say your name was a type of orange? And Ichigo? Well, it does fit your eyes and hair, I'll give you that one"

Naruto didn't respond straight away, conflicted about it, smile dimming a little bit before returning, as he started to walk with Keiko towards the tower.

"Kid, I know I can't take back what I did, and I should have made you wait. I just didn't want to see you get killed because you underestimated what the shinobi world was like."

Kurama, Naruto warned, not wanting to hear this right now as he was concentrating on his mask for Keiko.

"Lots of kids think that being a ninja is about flashy jutsu, as you did, and that isn't true, I will leave you alone, but just know, I only tried to make you more prepared."

With that, Kurama had left Naruto, who was about to burst into tears infront of Keiko. Rubbing his eyes slightly, he looked ahead as the hokage tower came into view.

———

"Who is this young boy, Keiko?" Asked Minato as the pair stood infront of him. 

"This is Daidai, Ichigo Daidai. He was recently smuggled into Konoha by his parents, and abandoned on the streets." She recited, looking sadly at the boy.

Minato looked the kid over. He was odd looking, and reminded him eerily of a certain tailed beast, but that was just coincidence, as the Kyuubi was safely sealed away, never to wreak havoc to his village for a long time, at least while Minato was alive anyway.

"Hello, Daidai. I am the Hokage, and I will do my best to make sure that you get a home very soon." At this, Daidai smiled sadly, but didn't speak. "Right now I need you to go with one of my ninja, they will take you to get some tests done to make sure you are healthy. I need to talk to Keiko here about something. Weasel?"

A masked man, an anbu, appeared next to Minato. "Go with young Daidai and take him to the hospital. Get Tsunade to have a look at him for me."

Naruto visibly paled, ever so slightly. If Tsunade-baa-chan was testing him, then she was sure to uncover him. But Shizune-nee already knew, and she was sure to tell her sensei, so he figured he could trust her.

Itachi shunshined them to the hospital, where Shizune was talking to Tsunade. Upon seeing Naruto, Shizune knew to keep her mouth shut for the moment, while Itachi explained things in a hushed tone to the slug princess.

"Hello, Daidai, I am Tsunade. I will be taking your tests for you today." Smiling at him kindly, Daidai seemed 'interested' as he excitedly told her all that he had heard of the sanin, and that he thought Tsunade was the coolest.

As soon as Itachi left, and he was sure there was nobody else around, he explained everything to his godmother, and told the pair of them what had happened that day (minus the Kyuubi stuff), although that was an implied factor to Tsunade. She knew that Naruto was hiding things, but wasn't bothered to bite off more than she could chew.

"Okay, Naruto. I still have to take these tests. It will be interesting to see what comes up in the DNA test." Tsunade said, taking out some equipment, before whispering to him. "Don't you worry, I know about your furry little problem, your secret is safe with me."

The tests went smoothly, and both the medics promised not to reveal what they had been told after Naruto asked them. They knew that this was his chance to have a fresh start, and wanted him to be a child a little longer.

———

Tsunade took him back to the Hokage's office, where the meeting with Keiko was just finished.

"Ah, Tsunade, I didn't expect you to actually come and visit." Minato told her after Keiko took Naruto to get some food. "What did you think of him? Keiko seemed to think he was a little too mature for his age, but I guess some kids just grow up that way."

"He seems like a lovely boy, very bright but looking for a home. Shizune seems to have taken quite a liking to him." Tsunade replied, internally smirking.

"Really? I wouldn't have expected that. She only ever seems to talk to the de- the container." 

Tsunade was seething after hearing what Minato had said, but kept it in. She wondered what could have possibly happened to create the chasm that lay between Naruto and his family, but now wasn't the time to ask.

"Yes. She seemed very happy around Daidai, happier than she has been in a while. Work has been tough on her lately."

"Really? I think then maybe it would benefit the both of them if Daidai were to live with her, at least for the first little while. I felt the sheer chakra size of that boy, he could be a powerful enemy, or a stronger ally. Shizune would be happier, and Daidai could have a friend." Minato proposed.

Hook, line and sinker. Tsunade thought, internally smirking once again. Men can be so dense sometimes. He doesn't realise I played him, he thinks the whole thing was his idea!

"I must agree, Minato, that is a splendid idea. I will talk with my apprentice about it, but I am positive she will agree with this." Smiling sweetly at the Hokage, Tsunade bowed, before walking to the door, and shunshinning away.

———

"So I am living with you now, Shizune-nee?" Asked Naruto after he said goodbye and thanked Keiko.

"Yes, Dai-chan. I can help you out with training in my spare time, but I trust you know what to do during the day. You won't be going to the academy for another few years, but for now, starting to learn the basics means that life will be much easier later on."

"The old bat's student won't know what hit her later on. Not when I'm done with you." Kurama said, wearing his sly grin.

Naruto grinned back, excited for what was to come in the future. He had grown so much over the past couple of days, and Kurama was already proud of his kit, no matter how much he would deny it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, 
> 
> This is a fic that I have been writing on Wattpad, my name on there is KesoKeos. I would like to say thanks for reading and I should be posting a new chapter in the next week on here.
> 
> \- GCP


End file.
